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RichardK

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Everything posted by RichardK

  1. RichardK
    Time to do the PT Cruiser rear speakers. I replaced the front ages ago but the rears are horrid to get to. I'm ignoring forums and shit youtube videos and following the workshop manual. Seats forward, undo the check strap brackets (13mm) and the obvious silver bolts on the headrest pad (13mm) Seats down, remove the plastic covers for the latches - wedge clips at the back, be gentle no damage. This reveals the spring latches. Lever the latch forward and insert a metal rod. I used a bookcase link hook from IKEA and released the other catch while lifting the seat out. They are light as anything. These latches want your knees for dinner. Undo the plastic pegs holding the roof cover guide. Which reveals... Four torx-headed screws. Undo the seatbelt anchors (21mm) and flip the belts up. Now discover it's too warm and there's a stage I forgot about undoing the belt guide, so have a cuppa. I'm not obsessed with things being "right" honest.
  2. RichardK
    I did, it was a stupid idea. Mine had 15 miles on. £39K list. £28K in the window. £4K deposit contribution: £2000 trade in for my 2004 Ignis Sport. £800 paid, £345/month, £11K balance: It was so bad I gave it back with months to go and lost the negative equity in a deal for a cheap C3 Airdream and it was the best decision ever.
  3. RichardK
    Mexibugs are on beam fronts, unlike the later German 1302/1303s with wobblestruts, so they're basically a pre-war design with improvements like disc brakes and such over time. Was surprised with my first one ('78) feeling so pleasant to drive - the only surprise along the same lines was trying an Allegro and realising that it really wasn't that different to pootling about in a Micra, and it felt considerably more modern than the Chevette I tried the same day...
  4. RichardK
    Garage is looking a little tidier...
  5. RichardK
    No more convertibles needed
  6. RichardK
    "Let's put the relay near this handy block of wires with a bolt you could put a bracket on" "Yes, but, hear me out here, what if we add a self-tapper hole as well to the galvanised body, one GM didn't plan" "Genius!" Oh look the splash shield fits now Definitely improved by losing the shitty foglights. Could use new indicator lenses, those are quite easy to find. Front plate bracket is going to get raised up to cover the hole in the line between the grilles - at some stage. Relay for horn is on the inner wing, and that wiring is easily identified, I'll rebundle it in plastic at some point.
  7. RichardK
    In 1995 I went to bug jam in my Jetta Syncro because both of my bugs had gone wrong (and I don't think I had rusty the bay window bus then)...
  8. RichardK
    I've heard this from Sterling when the guy I was talking to (Matt) took lots of time to really try and help, and it was genuinely helpful - if not useful in terms of insuring the thing. They won't take clients direct but it must be a very recent shift as my Volvo (£183 fully comp, May) was Markerstudy. The PT Cruiser is £168ish fully comp normal policy via eSure, renewed in June, but that's a proper UK spec car - eSure couldn't insure the Volvo when I went to change vehicle from the ZT, presumably because of age limits 😕
  9. RichardK
    With the fuse out for lights/locks the battery charged fully - so next task, remove the foglight nonsenses. I need to make sure I don't accidentally remove anything related to the horn as it has airhorns and they may be running off a relay - so work backwards... This is just... Yes, the foglight wire was simply dropped across the front and tucked into the little black trim bit. Nothing of value is being lost here. As an aside, PT Cruisers have not survived well at all - a scout of the market reveals far fewer for sale than even a year ago when I was shopping for better cabrios - though, there are a surprising number of cabrios for sale including some late 2.4 petrol manuals which I believe avoid the horrid tax the auto incurs.
  10. RichardK
    I can give them a call - their online system chucked £414 at me. I don't mind £400ish if I can pay monthly without being screwed on interest or charges if I change vehicle halfway because it's a 30 year old Pontiac with speedholes Thing is the firm I work for has advertising and marketing relationships with many of these companies. You'd think pissing me off (which to be clear is not price, but process and cockups like the NCB) would be A Bad Idea when I'm likely to be writing about insuring older used cars... (Our firm's comparison site is a yellow condiment and has nae chance with anything this off the beaten track).
  11. RichardK
    It would be much appreciated but I thought location implied Flux, which will be the same pool of underwriters... Flux's charges aside the £192 policy was Flux + Markerstudy so I don't think they'd have denied me a comparable rate if it were available to them 😕
  12. RichardK
    Most insurance firms aren't offering Pontiac as a brand - which is baffling in itself!
  13. RichardK
    Eh, I assumed it would be straightforward - I should have checked first - not your fault, should've just added each other as named drivers on the respective policies and avoided all this nonsense 😂 I have the 940 one going in the post to you tomorrow!
  14. RichardK
    Haven't tried them yet, but usually unmodified classic is the cheapest route and I think Adrian Flux had done that, just stupidly put an NCB request on the form anyway. The policy is American specialist and it weirdly included third party extension which I don't think I've seen on a classic policy before! Looking at the documents the actual insurance premium for the Trans Sport with ERS as the underwriter was £301 including tax - then £75 Adrian Flux fees, plus the fact that Sterling basically wiped out a £180 policy taken out in May for the Volvo where normally a change of vehicle would be 'additional premium' not this nonsense. A normal change of vehicle would have been £121, divide by 12 x 9, plus (usually) £15-35 admin fee, so about £120 additional premium until May which I'd have been more than happy with. If I can find an insurer who does monthly payments without the credit agreement basically being a short term loan at high APR as an additional agreement on credit file (Direct Line treat it as a loan/was 19% APR but it never showed on file that way) then I'll be happy but I suspect most brokers are going to be the same. Also it's worth noting that the Volvo's insurance wipeout via Sterling probably followed a similar model, so £186 premium was more likely to be £130 + Sterling's fee, runs end of May to August, cancelled, remaining premium pro-rata less £56 from Markerstudy cancellation fee less £35 Sterling admin fee. After I gave them a second chance at the Pontiac (£599! LOL) they waived their fee but sod all I can do about Markerstudy, so I got a whole £38 refund on that. I won't spend it all at once (I'll have to call Brentacre - their quote form cannot find the car, and it's so bizarre, this keeps coming up - the Trans Sport is a nonexistent vehicle despite being sold in Europe and several roaming around the UK, yet esure's drop down doesn't even list Pontiacs in among the utterly bizarre definitely sold in the UK marques it shows, and I've tried Trans Sport, TransSport, Transport, etc. and it just doesn't exist according to these automated systems - Brentacre just goes 'can't find the vehicle' then resets some form fields in a way that makes me want to enlist their web designer on an intensive 3-month UX course).
  15. RichardK
    Well, I think I've sorted the camper's insurance problems out now - I sent them a screenshot of the Volvo's cancelled policy on Sterling showing 15 years (twats, it was 20) and a note saying "I was told this could be checked off the database and esure has stopped showing old docs in the portal so it's the best I can do unless by some miracle I can reach esure" or words to that effect (I did find that esure finally allows change of address on the revised portable, as I'd been trying since March to update the cruiser and endlessly on hold for over an hour each time - a whole £5 more for the remaining 10 months since renewal, gosh, I moved to such a bad area clearly and that explains the hideous quotes for the Pontiac). Need a workshop manual for the Trans Sport (I have found the Volvo one, but that doesn't help) so I can get into diagnostics properly and fix this battery drain. For now I've pulled the central locking fuse in the hope that this will allow the poor little Noco charger to get the battery back up to spec without having to wade into the engine bay too much, and in the meantime I'm removing the comedy foglights which include such delicate, professional touches as 'a wire literally just fed under the little black grille trim on the bumper'. FFS. Everything related is soaking in WD40. Gut feeling is that the battery drain is a central locking actuator somewhere as when the battery has gone flat the first thing you hear on reconnecting is a sad little series of clunks from the passenger door solenoid. A decision has been taken – if I can't find insurance I am happy with (and in the grand scheme of things £400 is not that bad for insurance, but it is when I'm also paying £400 for a motorhome and £200 for a PT Cruiser, and the monthly option is a credit agreement with a third party at just under 40% APR) I am going to punish myself for my rashness. The replacement for the Trans Sport would have five doors, be technically American, and would share parts with one of my other cars... No, I can't afford another 300C Touring (especially not a V8, but I'm terrified of owning a Mercedes V6 diesel anyway). If I get rid of the Pontiac it will be for a purple PT Cruiser hardtop. Petrol, sunroof. Ideally manual, but auto tolerable, and pre-2006 to get the pre-facelift style and avoid the hideous tax rate. However, I wanted this Pontiac and I am determined that I should get to enjoy it - it was lovely driving it back and it's the stupid insurance that has soured the experience. Hagerty etc. all seem to be in the same ballpark so for whatever reason, it seems like the underwriting community has decided to be allergic to this class of import and it would probably cost @brownnova an unreasonable amount to insure it now as well – the Volvo was with the same underwriter and that underwriter now won't quote for it 😕 If that weren't enough battles, I'm also pondering if the DVLA can be persuaded to give the poor thing a name - all the V5 says is Pontiac. Surely they can be persuaded to let it be a Trans Sport and maybe even have GT as the variant. Is Estate right for bodystyle? Who knows or cares. But Pontiac <NONE> is probably not helping insurance firms
  16. RichardK
    But of course any problems I have with Flux are my own fault 😂
  17. RichardK
    Suspect that Flux becoming so dominant behind multiple brands and subsequent lack of competition might be why the underwriters are being less competitive, too.
  18. RichardK
    Yes, I have also discovered this - I'd accepted the Flux connection after Sterling gave a good price on the Volvo, but then the Fluxness came through when Sterling couldn't cover the Pontiac and wanted to refund £2 on a year policy paid in full. Flux fluxed up the camper too - despite being a choice to use them after a friend's very positive experiences - but I think that is sorted now.
  19. RichardK
    Honestly I think this won't be sticking around - it's so far from the condition my Volvo was in, in terms of 'just being able to enjoy it' that I'm already demotivated by it and the insurance is proving to be a complete pain in the arse - and it's not for the want of trying but it seems that for whatever reason the underwriters that these brokers use have decided this class of vehicle is cursed. I'm not paying £599 for a shit policy from Sterling or £400 for a differently shit policy from Flux when the car's off the road, behind gates, in a quiet postcode, and I have 20 years' NCB and haven't paid more than £200 fully comp for insurance on anything else in years. If it were perfect and behaving it'd be a different matter but I think I'm destined not to have a Pontiac and of course will have to put up with the loss that it's going to be a ballache for anyone else to insure too. I'll keep poking it for a while and if anyone wants it/has a trade policy so it's not an issue, etc. please buy it. Some bits will be improved, and I'm not going to chuck it up for sale, but spare me the distraction. It's a lesson in "doesn't matter how tempting an alternative is, if you love the car you've got DON'T CHANGE IT" and I'm not annoyed or feel like it was a bad deal, it's just not working out for me. Open to swaps of course, as long as they're not difficult to insure
  20. RichardK
    They've been utter bellends with me, and given the communities/career I am involved in, I will not shut up about it now.
  21. RichardK
    Stupid day dream ideas: Remove front roof panel (scary due to the windscreen trim and relationship). Make mould. Make solar panel roof over carbon fibre backing.
  22. RichardK
    You have no idea how much this would help me! I don't know if I will be able to bring it up to the standard I want - American galvanising is rather different to my understanding of it it seems - but every small irritation fixed is a step closer to the rest being good. I think a bush has been lost from the tailgate lock, as even with the parts reassembled the handle wobbles. Could just be a GM thing, but gut feeling is there should be an extra ring - maybe a rubber gasket - in the assembly. So even a complete boot lock assembly would be a big step forward. The front fogs and wiring are getting in the bin. I may fit some replacements but from @brownnova's comments someone just found a permanent live and hopped on - which explains the 25A fuse in the courtesy light circuit. FFS etc. relay across sidelight circuit with fogs on 12V fused live from battery, switch on earth from relay. If I refit front fogs that's how it'll be done. The smashed light and correlated drain/issues on that circuit may be related but I think it could be a dicky solenoid to blame for the flat battery. I'll make a list. It may be extensive. I may just find some money and buy another one from Austria or wherever: Do like it very much. The Volvo had an honesty and simplicity that I miss, but to my mind this is shabbier but also would cost far more if it were good condition - I just want to get to enjoy it a bit and the stupid insurance from Adrian Flux spoiled that, I need to find a sensible broker who makes an effort to get it an appropriate policy.
  23. RichardK
    TBF I think the things that pass as sills on that would be better deployed as floorboards and plastering.
  24. RichardK
    More lock shenanigans! Out it comes Into the machine Bits The issue - the locking pin wasn't retracting,, I think it works electronically so when you unlock it the motor releases the lock pin. It was not releasing, then the springs where in the wrong place, and the key was not releasing the locking bar Partially reassembled But now lets see if we can match the tumblers to the lock. Thought I'd try the lock solenoid No power. FFS. Solenoid is on the interior light circuit. Fuses okay but no interior lights. Not sure how to proceed next but I'll sort it. The inner panel behind the fuel filler side feels a bit shabby as well, so quite glad I cancelled the insurance!
  25. RichardK
    I had two thoughts - either attack the latches, once I worked out where they were, or see what I could reach via the fog lights. The screws for the foglights were mildly worrying and also appeared to be pretending to be numberplate caps - so latches it was! Removing the trim from inside would have trashed it, as it's screwed in inside the door shut all the way around Option three, now I see how it works, I could have made a hook to go via the speaker grille and pull the mech. But before I saw it I wouldn't have known how!
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